Authorities are keen to avoid a repeat of the uproar that followed the constitutional court's annulment of last year's vote results, after claims of Russian interference.
Georgescu was barred from the re-run and now his ally George Simion, leader of the far-right AUR party, has taken the lead in the re-run, according to several opinion polls.
“If Simion doesn’t win, it’s clear the elections have been rigged.”
TikTok election measures
The platform says it has also hired more Romanian-speaking content moderators to assess potentially misleading content ahead of the election.
The platform also added 120 experts to a Romanian election task force focusing on “covert influence campaigns and advertising integrity” and carried out a stress test to counter any potential threats.
The centre-left government has implemented stricter rules to clearly designate political lobbying and confirm the legality of funding. Content can now be removed from platforms at the telecommunications regulator's request.
Despite the changes, TikTok's algorithms still boost emotive and polarising messages, with Georgescu and Simion benefitting “from a disproportionate visibility,“ according to Madalina Botan, a senior lecturer at the National University of Political Science and Administration in Bucharest.
Romanian users 'radicalised'
“He’s been using the platform for a long time, he understands it, he knows what types of content to upload, he knows how to perform,“ Radu said, adding that Simion frequently expresses support for Georgescu to “legitimise himself”.
Georgescu still looms large on TikTok -- he was propelled into the top 10 global trends on the platform in November, according to declassified intelligence documents.
By contrast, more moderate candidates such as Bucharest mayor Nicusor Dan are often the target of criticism on TikTok, with their words ridiculed or set to humorous soundtracks or songs.
Dan said he was a victim of “an avalanche of new suspicious followers”.
The probe found thousands of posts featuring fake messages from Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing Romanians, suggesting he could become the next Romanian president and “liberate” the country.
“As long as politicians refer to conspiracy theories, coups, the ‘system’ and the ‘parallel state’ in the public space, as long as they exchange toxic messages among themselves, the level of radicalisation will not decrease,“ Radu said.
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